Best of the Drift, 2013: The Web Stuff.

This week we look back at the industry topics we wrote about in The Drift in 2013, and select a baker’s dozen issue that span the digital marketing landscape. Revisit, enjoy, comment, pass along to your colleagues and customers. Happy Holidays from all of us at Upstream Group.

Karaoke Data Marketing What passes for digital data marketing today is just the warm up act. If you’re tired of swilling warm beer while you’re listening to that cover band, get ready for the real thing.

“Breaking Better.” When it comes to data-driven online marketing, we’ve passed through the Jesse Pinkman era of bluster and pretense and entered the Walter White period: scale, attitude and serious science. But how does it end?

“Good Morning Vietnam.” How is online inventory like coffee beans in Southeast Asia? It’s all about moving up the distribution chain from commodity to specialty producer.

This week’s Drift is proudly underwritten byPubMatic. With PubMatic’s platform, publishers have the ability to offer their inventory to over 400 global Demand Partners – ad networks, demand side platforms, ad exchanges, and agency trading desks – and have on demand access to all the software, tools and services they need to realize the full potential of their digital assets.

“Whole Selling.” The rep of the future will need fluency in both direct and programmatic sales. This is shaping up to be the industry’s latest “integrated selling” challenge.

“When the Music Stops.” Will there be a shakeout and consolidation in the ad technology world? Oh yeah! And it will make the end of days look like a suburban rave by comparison.

“Rebooting Premium.” The CEO of one of the largest digital marketplaces says that quality content and context matter, while a leading research company tells us that half the stuff on exchanges is worthless crap. Is it just me or did the ground just shift a little?

“Desktopocalypse.” Geoffrey Ramsey and eMarketer have called 2014 as the year when desktop web use will be eclipsed by other screens. Two questions: Are you ready? And Didn’t this happen already?

“Six Words About Digital Marketing.” Hemingway challenged his drinking buddies to write a novel in just six words. Here we summarize some digital marketing themes and memes in six word sound bites. Say hello to Interactive Haiku!

“Going Native” and “Programmatic? Problematic” challenge the viability of the two dominant industry catch-all terms of the last few years. We argue that the labels have become so broad and inclusive that they’ve become meaningless and intellectually lazy.

“The Big Tent Revisited.” We kicked a fuss with this post, asking if the IAB hadn’t gone too far in its full-throated defense of third-party cookies.